Formal and Informal Assessment of Student Learning
Name:
I. Assignment Description/Requirements
For this assignment students were asked to make a model of the different stages of cell division. They were given a number of materials and some instruction as to what needed to be represented in each stage. Students were free to use any materials we had available including, chart paper, construction paper, markers, colored pencils, pipe-cleaners, yarn, scissors and glue, as well as anything they wanted to bring in on their own. Students worked collaboratively in the back of the room at lab tables, but each student was asked to make their own model.
LS1 (7-8) – 2 Students demonstrate understanding of structure and function-survival requirements by… 2a explaining how the cell, as the basic unit of life, has the same survival needs as an organism (i.e., obtain energy, grow, eliminate waste, reproduce, provide for defense).
The informal assessment took place during the creation of the student projects. While students worked on their projects I circulated the room and took not of their approach to creating their model of mitosis. I also asked them questions about how they could make their model as accurate as possible? For example I made one chromosome out of two green pipe-cleaner, as well as one chromosome out of a red and blue pipe-cleaners so each half of the chromosome was not identical. As I circulated I showed them the two chromosomes and asked which would bake a better representation of the chromosomes? Nearly all students recognized that the green chromosome was better because it had two identical sides.
B. Formal Assessment
The formal assessment was the actual grading of the projects with a rubric.
III. Assessments
A. Description of Informal Assessment
The informal assessment described above was a formative assessment done during the creation of the students projects. Also students were asked to answer a series of questions, using the model they made as a guide. This was a homework assignment.
The formal assessment was the grading of their final project. Students were asked to represent the cell membrane, the nuclear membrane (when present), and the chromosomes or loose DNA (when applicable). These 3 parts of the cell change in each stage and students should have been able to accurately represent how each of these might look in each different stage. A rubric was used to determine final scores.
This project was done after students had covered some new material on cell reproduction. The stages of mitosis are the steps all of the cells in our bodies must go through in order to reproduce. This class built upon what students had previously learned about all of the different organelles of the cell.
B. Analysis of Informal Assessment
As I circulated the room I formatively assessed students. When I noticed a student making an error on their project I encouraged them to compare their project to a neighbors. This often lead to the student with the proper representations guiding the student who had made an error to finding out what they needed to correct. Students were allowed to use their notes and book during the making of the project to ensure that the steps were correct. Students also had to answer 6 questions about mitosis as a homework assignment. The questions were designed so that if a student had made a good model the answers would be clear. There were also some questions designed to connect the project to other mitosis concepts. See the link above for these questions. These questions were collected and graded for correctness. If it was clear that a student had trouble getting the correct answers down, I went back and looked at their project and asked them to re-evaluate how they had represented each step to be sure they were correct.
C. Analysis of Formal Assessment
The formal assessment was of each individual project. A link for the rubric can be found above. Each stage of mitosis had to have the three parts of the cell represented in some way. If these parts were not represented or represented incorrectly students lost points. Students were also graded on whether they had each step in the correct order, their ability to be consistent it how they chose to represent the three parts of the cell, and their creativity and use of different materials.
V. Commentary / Reflection
A. Reflections from Informal Assessment
After reviewing the homework assignment and keeping what I noticed during the making of the projects in mind, I was able to determine which students may have needed to make some adjustments to their projects. Many of these questions were designed so students would have to write down in words what they put together in the project. This made it easy for me to see if they had put the project together correctly. IF they were getting the questions wrong then they put the project together wrong. These students were encouraged to come to homework club and male the adjustments before the final projects would be graded. These projects were meant to be a visual representation of mitosis and it is important that these models had the correct info.
Also the final question on the homework assignment was to see what students could figure out about prokaryotic cells based on what they know about eukaryotic cells. This question ended up being offered as bonus as many students struggled with this idea. Some of the higher end students were able to make the connection.
B. Reflections from Formal Assessment
After grading the projects I was able to get an idea of which students actually understand the idea that cell division is a step by step process and the cell cannot start one step until the previous step has been completed. The samples of student work below show the variation in the results I received. Each project was graded with a rubric. A smaller version of the rubric was attached to the back of the project with comments.
The goal of this assignment was to create a visual representation of the cell divison cycle. I would say that based on what I observed, that this goal was accomplished. Many students were able to attain a high level of success and create a project that they could be proud of and use to reinforce what they know about the cell cycle. Based on the students performances I was able to learn that I had effectively communicated the concepts involved in the cell cycle. With the averages of 85%, and 92%, it was clear that the majority of students were able to take what they learned about the cell cycle and use that information to make a visual model.
If I were to do this again I would change the questions on the homework assignment. I would add a question about how this process might be different in prokaryotic cells. This question gave students an opportunity to make connections from what they know and apply it to a different but similar case. Some leading questions could include “What is the difference between prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic cells.” Making it clear that the nucleus is the difference in these cells should give students something to focus on as far as how these processes may be different. Also we talked about how the process is different in Plant cells, and this could be referenced back to, to get students to think outside of the box.
Formal and Informal Assessment of Student Learning
Name:
I. Assignment Description/Requirements
For this assignment students were asked to make a model of the different stages of cell division. They were given a number of materials and some instruction as to what needed to be represented in each stage. Students were free to use any materials we had available including, chart paper, construction paper, markers, colored pencils, pipe-cleaners, yarn, scissors and glue, as well as anything they wanted to bring in on their own. Students worked collaboratively in the back of the room at lab tables, but each student was asked to make their own model.
Formal Informal Assessments 2009 Publish at Scribd or explore others: Academic Work Other information justice
II. Description of Learning Goals
A. Informal Assessment
LS1 (7-8) – 2 Students demonstrate understanding of structure and function-survival requirements by… 2a explaining how the cell, as the basic unit of life, has the same survival needs as an organism (i.e., obtain energy, grow, eliminate waste, reproduce, provide for defense).
The informal assessment took place during the creation of the student projects. While students worked on their projects I circulated the room and took not of their approach to creating their model of mitosis. I also asked them questions about how they could make their model as accurate as possible? For example I made one chromosome out of two green pipe-cleaner, as well as one chromosome out of a red and blue pipe-cleaners so each half of the chromosome was not identical. As I circulated I showed them the two chromosomes and asked which would bake a better representation of the chromosomes? Nearly all students recognized that the green chromosome was better because it had two identical sides.
B. Formal Assessment
The formal assessment was the actual grading of the projects with a rubric.
III. Assessments
A. Description of Informal Assessment
The informal assessment described above was a formative assessment done during the creation of the students projects. Also students were asked to answer a series of questions, using the model they made as a guide. This was a homework assignment.
B. Description of Formal Assessment
The formal assessment was the grading of their final project. Students were asked to represent the cell membrane, the nuclear membrane (when present), and the chromosomes or loose DNA (when applicable). These 3 parts of the cell change in each stage and students should have been able to accurately represent how each of these might look in each different stage. A rubric was used to determine final scores.
IV. Analysis
A. Description of Class Context
This project was done after students had covered some new material on cell reproduction. The stages of mitosis are the steps all of the cells in our bodies must go through in order to reproduce. This class built upon what students had previously learned about all of the different organelles of the cell.
B. Analysis of Informal Assessment
As I circulated the room I formatively assessed students. When I noticed a student making an error on their project I encouraged them to compare their project to a neighbors. This often lead to the student with the proper representations guiding the student who had made an error to finding out what they needed to correct. Students were allowed to use their notes and book during the making of the project to ensure that the steps were correct. Students also had to answer 6 questions about mitosis as a homework assignment. The questions were designed so that if a student had made a good model the answers would be clear. There were also some questions designed to connect the project to other mitosis concepts. See the link above for these questions. These questions were collected and graded for correctness. If it was clear that a student had trouble getting the correct answers down, I went back and looked at their project and asked them to re-evaluate how they had represented each step to be sure they were correct.C. Analysis of Formal Assessment
The formal assessment was of each individual project. A link for the rubric can be found above. Each stage of mitosis had to have the three parts of the cell represented in some way. If these parts were not represented or represented incorrectly students lost points. Students were also graded on whether they had each step in the correct order, their ability to be consistent it how they chose to represent the three parts of the cell, and their creativity and use of different materials.
V. Commentary / Reflection
A. Reflections from Informal Assessment
After reviewing the homework assignment and keeping what I noticed during the making of the projects in mind, I was able to determine which students may have needed to make some adjustments to their projects. Many of these questions were designed so students would have to write down in words what they put together in the project. This made it easy for me to see if they had put the project together correctly. IF they were getting the questions wrong then they put the project together wrong. These students were encouraged to come to homework club and male the adjustments before the final projects would be graded. These projects were meant to be a visual representation of mitosis and it is important that these models had the correct info.
Also the final question on the homework assignment was to see what students could figure out about prokaryotic cells based on what they know about eukaryotic cells. This question ended up being offered as bonus as many students struggled with this idea. Some of the higher end students were able to make the connection.
B. Reflections from Formal Assessment
After grading the projects I was able to get an idea of which students actually understand the idea that cell division is a step by step process and the cell cannot start one step until the previous step has been completed. The samples of student work below show the variation in the results I received. Each project was graded with a rubric. A smaller version of the rubric was attached to the back of the project with comments.
Student Work 1
Student Work 2
Student Work 3
Period 2
Aharon, Lianna
84
Barbere, Kristina
63
Bartolotta, Mia
88
Campos, Kevin
72
Christofaro, Kaitlyn
76
DeLuca, Nicholas
80
Doyal, Sarah
82
Embleton, Dayle
96
Ericson, Malia
88
Fonseca, Nicholas
70
Hathaway, Jason
97
Jordan, Althea
103
Kiely, Daniel
94
Lucier, Oliver
99
Masse, Jonathan
92
McClure, Elizabeth
85
Monroe, Rea'ana
49
Ottovani, Julia
103
Piez, Kayli
85
Stratfford, Tyler
95
Vetter, Kenneth
99
Vidmar, Nick
75
AVE
85.22727
Period 1
Ballinger, Robert
100
Beauchamp, Jeremy
88
Benford, Andrew
93
Bizer, Matthew
96
Bouchard, Brian
96
Carmondy, Michael
81
Corvese, Courtney
93
DeFeo, Anna
93
Estman, Nate
81
Eden, Mary
96
Gulla, Mariclaire
96
Iannetta, Joey
96
Isabel, Meagan
88
Kunikeeva, Aliya
100
Manville, Carly
100
Parks, Tyler
93
Perry, Zack
93
Thomas, Virginia
93
Walter, Emily
85
Willette, Zachary
81
AVE
92.1
VI. Conclusions
The goal of this assignment was to create a visual representation of the cell divison cycle. I would say that based on what I observed, that this goal was accomplished. Many students were able to attain a high level of success and create a project that they could be proud of and use to reinforce what they know about the cell cycle. Based on the students performances I was able to learn that I had effectively communicated the concepts involved in the cell cycle. With the averages of 85%, and 92%, it was clear that the majority of students were able to take what they learned about the cell cycle and use that information to make a visual model.
If I were to do this again I would change the questions on the homework assignment. I would add a question about how this process might be different in prokaryotic cells. This question gave students an opportunity to make connections from what they know and apply it to a different but similar case. Some leading questions could include “What is the difference between prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic cells.” Making it clear that the nucleus is the difference in these cells should give students something to focus on as far as how these processes may be different. Also we talked about how the process is different in Plant cells, and this could be referenced back to, to get students to think outside of the box.